The Long Journey Home
by HazelnutCookie
Summary: Eddie is forced to relive his past, it may be harder then anyone thought
1. Chapter One

Chapter One:  
  
An icy pale New York morning clung to the air as the lemony sunlight flittered through the windows of Eddie Alden's loft. Said man rolled over and groaned uncomfortably as the same sunlight pierced his eyelids and ultimately his brain. There was still a full ten minutes before when the alarm would ring, but it was Sunday morning, and he decided that the stubborn sunlight was an omen to his day.  
  
His girlfriend, Jane Goodale, stirred at his side and he carefully rose from the bed so not to bother her too much. He rubbed his brown eyes in dead submission and went to the wide window that spanned halfway across the wall and gave Eddie a clear view of the world below him. He had always enjoyed Manhattan almost in the same sense that he enjoyed woman, he got thrills from its emotional vicissitudes, but was always there when he needed it.  
  
'Speaking of women,' He thought as he looked over at Jane sleeping in his bed. Jane Goodale was the opposite of every other woman he had dated; she was opinionated, he had never realized how much he appreciated that in a woman, most other women were sweet of face, slow of brain, yet quick to get out of their clothes, Jane was different then all of them. She had fine dark brown hair that was cut just under her chin and wide dark eyes that looked like they belonged to a goddess in a painting. He decided that he was going to let her sleep for a while more; she looked so lovely when she was sleeping.  
  
He waved frantically to the passing people below them and laughed to himself. Many ignored him completely or simply marked him off as crazy; both were fine for him. He laughed to himself quietly and moved from the bedroom into the kitchen, that was really no more then an open bar and a small 'fridge. However, Jane had added little touches that made it seem more like a kitchen should.  
  
He lazily began to fry two eggs in a pan and popped pieces of toast into the toaster as he watched the coffee maker drip idly into the glass bowl, many of the instruments he cared nothing for the inner workings of.  
  
"There's just something so appealing about watching your boyfriend cook breakfast naked," Jane said lazily from the doorway. Eddie grinned and placed a smooth kiss on her lips. "Good morning," He said and ran a hand through her soft near black hair and placed a quick last kiss on her lips. "Go shower and I'll finish this off" He slapped her butt playfully as she walked off and she glanced over her shoulder and gave him a look that made his heart skip a couple beats. The coffee finished dripping and he poured it into two mugs, but when he heard the sound of running water, the left the food as it was and went to surprise Jane.  
  
She was singing when he quietly opened the door, he knew the song was 'Crazy Love' by Aaron Neville and he grinned to himself. The white shower curtain was slick with condensation between his fingers and with one swift movement, he pulled it back and Jane gave a little yelp and tried to cover herself. "God why don't you just play the squeaky violin music and get it over with?" She asked with a relived sigh as she pushed her hand through her wet hair. "I believe fully in the water conservation laws, so move over"  
  
To the both of them, there was no better way to start off a idle Saturday morning then to have steamy sex in the shower. Although the food had gone cold, they ate in comfortable silence while music played over the hidden stereos. It was classical this morning; Eddie recognized the complicated tangle of notes to be that of Vladimir Horowitz, for Jane was practically fond of his Etude in C Minor Op. 25 No. 12. He was a little shocked that he knew that precisely, but since he had asked her to move in a few months ago, she had played it.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Jane rose to answer it. There was a young boy probably no older then 15 years a faded Yankee's cap slightly askew with spikes of sandy blonde sticking out and carrying a pouch at his side. It would have almost looked comical if it weren't for the thick envelope he had in his hand. "I'm looking for an Edward Alden"  
  
Eddie rose and looked at the envelope in Jane's pretty manicured hand. "It's from a hospital in Louisiana," Jane said oblivious to the fact that Eddie was just behind her and was very well aware of where the letter was from. "Well this can't be right," Jane began to say but the boy had vanished as into thin air and Eddie took the letter from her. "Yes it can," He said grimly and began to open the letter.  
  
"Who's it from?" Jane asked a little nervously at the open letter in his hands. "It's from my mother," He read a little further down. "She's dying and she wants to see me" Jane's hand flew to her lips and gasped a little. "Are you going to go see her?" Eddie's wide dark eyes looked through her as if she was insane. "You've got to be kidding me. Louise Alden hated me before I was born, I'm not going"  
  
"Eddie she's your mother, you have to go" He just raised a perfect dark eyebrow and watched her blandly. "I'm not going to drop everything here to run to a place I don't even want to be to meet a woman who never wanted me to exist anyway" Jane took Eddie's palm and pressed it to her lips. "Look Eddie, I know that you and your mother haven't always gotten along, I know that you left as soon as you could, but that woman is the only family you have left, so I'm telling you to go. I'll take care of work; I'll.take care of everything"  
  
Eddie gripped a handful of the sweatshirt Jane had slipped on and pulled her close for a fierce kiss. "I love you Jane," He said as he rested his forehead on hers and she winked at him as she went off to pack his bags. 


	2. Chapter Two

Nothing in the deep southern heart of Louisiana ever changed and that was why Eddie supposed it was so hard to come back. He had seen the almost over powering beauty of New York at sunset, he saw the best and worst of humanity there, how could he go back to Franklin now?  
  
He rented a car from the airport in Lafayette and drove for a few solid hours before every memory he had of childhood began to take form again. He turned the radio up and let the screaming guitar of Bruce Springsteen wash everything away that was haunting him. The road became increasingly rocky and familiar and he had to swing the car over to the shoulder of the road to take a deep steadying breath before he pushed the car into gear and it resumed its slow journey down the road.  
  
The small hospital was still standing and as he parked the car in the small parking lot, he glanced at himself one last time in what he guessed was a gesture implanted in him from New York. The door creaked soundly under his weight but no one seemed to pay attention. Perhaps because there was no one in the front of the hospital except for an old man who was quiet content with sleeping the day away.  
  
He tip-toed past him quietly down a long hall that boasted a variety of cramped rooms, all painted different bright shades in an attempt to make it seem more cheerful, but in the end it all failed. He had been in this hospital many times before, but of course it seemed a lot bigger and intimidating to a young boy then it did now to a man. Sunlight was streaming from the open windows and Eddie demanded to know what gave the sun the right to shine, for it to be one of the most beautiful autumn days when he was somewhere he never wanted to be again?  
  
Most of the doors were open; however there was one on the end that was ominously shut. He walked to the end of the long hallway that seemed to keep stretching as he walked and reached out for the doorknob. He almost had it in his hand, could feel the coolness radiating from it when someone cleared their throat behind him. He did the best he could not to jump and settled his stomach with a deep breath before he turned around.  
  
He knew those eyes. At least he would of if he had recognized the face that they were set in. A woman was standing behind in clad in a white buttery- soft looking leather jacket and bone colored slacks, long sunshine blonde hair was carefully pulled away from the dusty gold skin that was spackled with a handful of freckles, but the eyes; the wonderfully blue eyes were icy.  
  
"Can I help you with something?" She asked, her voice carried definite roots from the Bayou. "Yes, sorry. My mother was.Look you're going to think I'm crazy if I'm wrong, but you couldn't possibly be Polly Hawke could you?" The woman looked at him for a long unsettling moment that dragged on for eternity before the unpainted but extremely feminine mouth spread into a grin that showed off very white and straight teeth.  
  
"Eddie," She said, still beaming like the sun when she nearly leapt into his arms. He wrapped his strong arms around her tiny waist and plucked her right off the floor and spun her into a circle. "Shit girl how did you get to be so pretty?" He asked as he pulled the band out of her hair and let the long tumble of gold surround her face. She answered his question by placing a saucy kiss on his mouth. Unconsciously, he noted to himself that she tasted like mint toothpaste and lip balm.  
  
"I'm glad you're here," Polly said when she finally managed to contain her bouncing excitement to see her old friend again. "Nothing major ever really comes through these doors, mostly it's just a few cuts that need stitching or some frantic girls from the high school in for PAP smears and pregnancy tests. Although last summer Tom Cranford blew a hole in his foot last winter when he was hunting in the woods, says he slipped on some ice and the damn thing went off, anyway serves him right. However when you're mother came in to me." She trailed off sadly and looked up at Eddie, surprised to see the slight steely look in his eyes.  
  
"Just tell me what she has Polly, all the letter told me was to come here and here I am, so what the hell is going on?" Polly watched him steadily for a minute. "She had pancreatic cancer, in the very last stages of it" Eddie let out a bitter oath and ignored the looked that she gave him. "Why isn't she at the Memorial in Lafayette or Baton Rouge for Christ's sake?" He asked angrily and Polly shrugged a dainty shoulder. "I've called all the hospitals all over Louisiana; all of them say the same thing. Besides Louise says that she was born here and she wanted to die here, and since she refuses to sign papers for chemo and radiation therapy, there wouldn't be much of anything they could do anyway now would there?"  
  
Louise Hart-Alden, although she may have detested her only child, had always had a soft spot in her withered heart for Polly Hawke, the sweetest little blonde girl who managed to never say or do anything wrong.  
  
"Can I see her?" Eddie asked as he glanced over the closed door. Polly checked the clock mounted on the wall. "Yeah," She began slowly as she jotted something down on the clipboard he hadn't noticed she was carrying under her left arm. "She sleeps most of the day now, but when she's awake all she does is ask for you" Eddie gave the door a grim look as if he could see already what was on the other side of it, but waited silently as Polly pushed the door open and the two of them went in together.  
  
For a minute Eddie was sure that Polly had gotten the room number wrong, for the tiny woman in the white bed couldn't have possibly been the same woman who had made the first 18 years of his life pretty much hell on earth. But the woman turned to the sound of the opening door and looked past the both of them.  
  
Polly went forward and gently rearranged the sheets on the bed. "Mizz Alden," She said in a clear voice. "You're son is here" Louise angled her head the best she could and peered at Eddie skeptically. "That's not my son; my son is ten years old" Polly gaze Eddie a sympathetic look but he shrugged it off. "No honey," Polly said as she plumped the pillows under her head a bit. "Your son was ten 17 years ago, Eddie's come to see you now"  
She nudged him forward with her hip as she passed by him to collect the dirty laundry and Eddie considered not saying anything. "Hi Mom," He said a little meekly and the woman with sandy brown eyes now hazed with sleep and disease looked at him and seemed to focus. "Edward," She said between numb lips and clutched his hand desperately. "I was so horrible to you when you were young"  
  
Somehow Polly managed to slip out of the room without being noticed and left Eddie alone with his mother who he had not talked to in seventeen years. "Look you don't have to explain it." "No," She interrupted him, "but I want you, so please listen" She took a couple of steadying breaths and began slowly:  
  
"A couple weeks before you were born, your father ran off with some 18-year- old tramp he had met in Pittsburg named Vanilla, I was so angry at him for leaving when I was pregnant with his baby. I got a note from him a week later saying how that he didn't think he was the father and that the baby was now my responsibility and I should do whatever the goddamn hell I wanted to with it. Then you were born on June 5th and all the nurses fell in love with you, you were so small and perfect, you were never even fussy. You had your father stamped all over you, especially the smile. I hated you for that alone, why did you have to look so much like him when all I wanted to do was hate him and love you?  
  
"The older you got the more I saw James in you, and oh how I was terrified that if someone knew what had happened, that he had ran off and left me alone, that someone would come and take you away from me, but I desperately needed you. I hardly let you play with your little friends from school because I was worried that if you fell or got hurt then they would think that I was doing it to you and being a bad mother, but what I didn't realize that by shutting you away was the worst thing I could have done to you. I remember the day that you're English teacher from the 3rd grade called and told me that you didn't want to come home because I hated you. I wanted to weep and rage at the same time, but instead I started the little newspaper, so I hardly ever saw you anyway and I suppose that that was just as fine for you as I pretended it was for me.  
  
"When you turned 16, girls were always sniffing around you and I guess you were sniffing after then as equal much because you were always bringing them home with you. I hated the thought of one of the stealing you away from me so I picked at them until they flat out refused to come back here again, and I'm sure that they hated me just as much. I knew that one day you were going to leave and I couldn't always keep you to myself, but I must say I was hardly prepared for you to pack your bags and announce that you were leaving the day that you turned 18. Well sure enough you did and I let you go without so much as a goodbye.  
  
"The best thing I ever did was let you walk out of the house that day, but I despised that I didn't tell you that I really did love you for you were my only son, my only child, but pride wouldn't let me. Nevertheless, I've come to the point in my life when I begin to worry about regrets, and the one true thing that I've regretted is that I never told you how much I truly love you. I can see that you've made something fantastic out of yourself, it was more then I ever did and you're a spitting image of your father now, but through everything I put you through when you were younger, I desperately loved you and I still do, I just wanted to make sure that you knew that before I go"  
Louise settled back a bit more and then slowly, softly, drifted off into sleep. 


	3. Chapter Three

Eddie stayed at the hospital with Polly for the rest of the day. Louise slept and the most major of accidents that happened was that a child had tried to swallow one of those little green army men. While the frantic mother shrieked and fretted mercilessly over the 4-year-old boy, Polly carefully extracted it and while the child by the name of Simon sucked happily on a bright red lolli, Polly scolded him playfully about putting things in his mouth and the mother took him home.  
  
In the back room, Polly changed out of the jacket and pants and traded them for loose drawstring jeans and a black tank top. She let her beautiful hair down and it always gave him a little punch in the belly when he saw it. He knew it was stupid, he knew it was there, either pulled back or hidden under a battered baseball cap she would wear when he knew her, but now he noticed little bits of sparkle about her. In her ears were chandler diamonds earrings, on her wrist was a platinum and diamond charm bracelet he was sure he had saw in the window of Tiffany's.  
  
Eddie didn't say anything about the pieces of jewelry she was wearing but smiled as she stepped out and linked their hands companionably. "Come on cowboy, I'll make you some dinner" He had to grin. "I'm only going to accept your invitation if it's your mother's old recipe for spaghetti and meatballs" Polly laughed. "I'll see that it is then, I just need to wake Doc Crawford up. I hate having to wake him up, I don't have the heart to most of the time let alone fire him"  
  
Once the 91-year-old man shuffled off Polly set the alarms, locked the doors behind them, and ran a hand through her hair. A dust covered Corolla was waiting with the beaten red Mustang Eddie had gotten from the airport all alone in the gravely parking lot. "You can leave that here if you want, it'll be perfectly safe," Polly said as she dug about in her purse for her car keys. "Sure," Eddie said a little uncertainly and got into the seat next to Polly as she nearly had to kick the car into ignition and drove off.  
  
Polly's house sat prettily behind a little flowerbed and an ancient weeping willow dripping with Spanish moss. The door of the door flew open and a bullet with sandy blonde hair shot out. "Mom!" Said the boy who couldn't have been a day over 10. "Mrs.Hanson made me eat lima beans and they were dis-gust-ing" Polly smiled and ruffled his fine hair. "Did you ever finish your homework?" At his uneasy silence, she kissed his forehead. "Then you deserved it. Luke this is an old friend of mine Eddie Alden. Eddie this is Lucas, he's my son" Luke eyed him with his dark cobalt blue eyes for a long minute. "Are you the skinny guy in the picture in Mom's bedroom?" "Yes," Eddie said with a laugh. "I am"  
  
Polly ushered the two of them inside and Eddie began to take in the soft feminine touches among the rubble that came along with having a child. A beautiful vase sat on a squat highly polished chest of drawers that was pushed against the wall that was painted a deep rose. In the vase were beautiful long stem calla lilies that perfumed the air and brought back so many memories.  
  
"What is your homework Luke?" Polly asked as she scrubbed her hands briskly with anti-bacterial soap. "Fractions, I hate fractions. Fractions blow chunks. Why do I have to do these dumb things anyway?" Polly rolled her pretty eyes at her son playfully. "Because my darling son, not everything comes in a whole and sometimes you have to figure out the parts of them" Luke pouted and looked identical to his mother. "Why? And why can't I just do it after dinner?" Polly turned and began to boil water in a tall brass pot. "Because that's just how the world works, and you can do it after dinner if you don‎'t want your hour of TV-Movie time"  
  
"That's not fair!" Luke said standing up from the table. "News flash to Luke: Life's not always fair. Now do your homework or go scrub up for dinner and lose your hour" Sensing the tension on the rise, Eddie smoothly intervened. "Let's see those chunk-blowing fractions," He said as he sat Luke down in the chair and looked over his shoulder to see the book. "Oh yeah Polly," He said as he turned his head and gave a quick wink to her. "This stuff is really hard. I'm not surprised he can't get it" Luke looked up at Eddie, determination narrowing his dark blue eyes. "I can to get it" He said stubbornly but Eddie shook his head. "No, this is really tough stuff, maybe you should go wash up and maybe you're mom will do it for you later"  
  
"It's not that hard. Look you take this 3 ¼ and you multiply it by 2 and it'll be 3 2/8 and then you can add it to the 6 3/8 and then the answer will be 9 5/8 see?" Luke asked triumphantly as he jabbed at the paper with the pencil that he had been chewing on then added as if on second thought. "Was that a trick?" Eddie laughed "That's good kid, now do the last five and I'll talk your mom into extending your hour." Luke shot up from the table, ran down the hall to his room with the book, and scattered papers in hand doing some sort of war cry.  
  
Polly was smiling as she chopped sage leaves and threw them into a brass pot of boiling water. "You're good with him. Normally we would go on arguing for hours before we reached any sort of conclusion, so thanks are in order" She turned from the pot on the stove and got out a bottle of wine from the bottom wrung of the refrigerator and a corkscrew from the drawer. "Kunde Sauvignon Blanc, I hope you like it, it's quite good, I stopped drinking red wine, stains teeth and god knows what else" She poured two glasses and handed one to him.  
  
"And actually I've been meaning to talk to you," She cast an uneasy look to Luke's room. "I was sixteen when I got pregnant with Luke-" Eddie held up a hand to stop her. "You don't need to explain Polly, I get it" Polly took a deep sip of her wine as if to steady herself. "I know I don't, but I just don't want you to think I'm easy or something. A quick lay" Eddie's eyes remained carefully blank. "I don't think that Polly, and you're lucky I don't get offended easily" "I know you don't think that, but it's been hard raising him alone and here if you have a cold it's everybody's cold, you should know that. My father left us this house and that helped quite a bit, but-it's difficult to explain" The door to Luke's room burst open and he tramped out. "I'm done and I washed up now when do we eat, I'm starving" It hadn't mattered to Luke that before his mother had arrived home he had eaten half a bag of corn chips, popcorn, and drank about a gallon of chocolate milk, he was starving and that was all that mattered. "Dinner will be ready when it's ready, now why don't you show Mr.Alden the new video games you begged me to buy for you" Luke's face lit up and he grabbed Eddie by the hand and dragged him to the small game room. 


	4. Chapter Four

Polly didn't know exactly what to expect from Eddie anymore. She hadn't seen him for nine years and now he just waltzed back into Franklin with the air of money and bright polished wood around him in a place that was hardly more comfortable with it than she was. Nevertheless, she knew Eddie, or she had to keep telling herself that. No matter how wonderful he looked in the Fendi suit. On a quick second thought, Polly snatched the phone off the cradle and frantically dialed a number my memory.  
  
"Hello?" A slightly sleepy voice said. "Melanie," Polly said when her lifetime long friend answered the phone. Melanie Scott had grown up with Polly and Eddie although she would be the first to agree with someone who said the trio had never really grown up at all. "Guess who's watching Luke play video games in his room?" There was a pause from the other line until Melanie said helplessly "Hitler," Polly swallowed a laugh and shook her although she knew Melanie couldn't see her. "No, Eddie. He's come home because of Louise and he's wearing a Haurex. People may think that I don't think that I know what a Haurex is but I do and do you know how much a watch like that costs? More than I make in a year, and he's wearing a really gorgeous Fendi suit. He's staying for dinner and all I have to make is spaghetti and meatballs. He says that's all he cares about but-"  
  
Melanie cut Polly off before she could continue. "I pretty much lost you after you said that Eddie is back and watching Luke, but who really cares what he's wearing or what sort of watch he has. He's still the same skinny dork for ages ago and he is acts like the prima donna producer he may be then just kick his ass and he'll get over it" Polly was busily gnawing her lip while Melanie scolded her and kept casting nervous glances towards Luke's bedroom. "And STOP acting like he's going to beat Luke to a bloody pulp at any moment. I know how paranoid you are Polly Hawke now finish making dinner and seduce his ass if you have a mind to"  
  
Polly let out a sort of horrified gasp and began loudly until she had enough sense to lower her voice in case Eddie might hear her. "I do not have a mind to seduce him, we knew him since nappies Melanie how could you think about him in...in that way?" Melanie laughed a bubbly sound. "Times are a-changing Polly, it's alright to think that one of your guy friends are hot, hell I've thought he was hot when he was 18. Is he still that gorgeous?" Polly wanted to deny it but she gave the Fendi jacket splayed on the table a longing look. "He still is, and more so. He's probably dating this Russian supermodel that would look at us like some sort of bug, but that's not the point Mel, how am I going to make spaghetti and meatballs good enough for someone who's from New York?" Melanie set something down then turned back to the phone. "Firstly, Eddie's not from New York, he's from Franklin Louisiana, we all know that. And secondly shut up and stop worrying how his new 'palette' or whatever and start cooking"  
  
Melanie hung up the phone and Polly stood in the middle of the kitchen with her hands on her hips as she stared blandly at the pots on the stove. "Okay, it's only Eddie. He is a normal guy with normal really great biceps...No! Bad you don't think about Eddie like that. First, I need to stop talking to myself like a crazy person and start cooking. Okay...cooking"  
  
Once everything was simmering and cooking properly, Polly finished off her glass of wine, ran a hand through her hair, and went to inform Luke and Eddie that dinner would be ready in five minutes. She pushed the door open and prepared herself to see Eddie slouched in one of the chairs watching Luke play WWF Smackdown with a polite sort of attention. That's why Polly was surprised to find Eddie not in a chair, but crouched on the mucky floor next to Luke as they battled each other. She waited quietly in the doorway of the room until Luke's character dropped dead to the mat of the game.  
  
"Alright boys," Polly said with a slight smile touching her lips "Dinner is going to be ready. Luke will you please set the table?" Luke began to rise up Eddie grabbed his heels and twisted him back down on the floor. "I told you. You can never beat me at Smackdown, that's my game" Eddie dug his fingers into Luke's side and began tickling him mercilessly as he squirmed and shrieked with laughter. Polly let it go one a moment longer before she had to shout over the sounds of male bonding. "Dinner is ready and if you don't want everything to burn then I suggest you two manly men set the table"  
  
Saying nothing more Polly turned from the doorway and back into the kitchen swinging her hips prettily. They picked themselves up to their feet and obediently followed Polly and began clearing off the table. "Eddie why don't you find some music to put on?" Asked Polly and he went over to the stereo that looked weird in comparison to the booming chrome and brass one Jane had insisted on getting. One CD in particular caught his eye and he had to grin as he lifted it up.  
  
"Jesus Christ Polly I thought you had gotten over this stage years ago" Polly looked over her shoulder and wrinkled her nose at Eddie. "Well you were wrong because Peter Allen is timeless. Now put something on or get away from it" Still laughing to himself, Eddie slipped the CD into the tongue of the player and watched Polly as she served the food onto the plates.  
  
After dinner, Luke went off happily for his hour and TV-Movie time and left Polly and Eddie alone. She was clearing dishes in the sink when Eddie came up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulders. "Thanks for dinner," He said and kissed her neck as she laughed. "If you were really thankful you'd refill the glasses and come out with me on the porch" 


	5. Chapter Five

The summer night was damp and sticky with the sweet smells of fresh cut grass, the smells of Citronella candles and night blooming jasmine. Peter Allen was still singing inside the house about going to Rio de Janeiro and Polly had her feet comfortably propped on a railing of the banister with her glass in her hand. "Did you miss any of this at all Eddie?" She asked a little sleepily as the wine fogged her brain.  
  
"I guess I do," He said as he looked about the garden, the drooping weeping willow gave the garden a sort of alien feeling. "The sheer simplicity of it all, its slower then Manhattan" Polly nodded and rested her head on his shoulder and felt the smooth fabric of his shirt on her skin, he smelled like sunshine and Old Spice, Polly didn't know how appealing that combination would be on a man until that moment. "Don't you ever want to leave Franklin though Polly? Travel around and see the world?"  
  
She thought about his question for a moment. "Sometimes I wish that I could just pack up and leave like you did, but I guess it wouldn't be fair to everyone here. I'm not saying that it was wrong what you did," She added quickly when he gave her a certain look. "I just think that my circumstances are different now. I wished that I could have gone with you Eddie, God knows I would have said yes if you asked me to, but then I never would have met Will and then I never would have gotten pregnant with Luke, I don't know what I would have done without him. But I think in our own way, things work out. You shouldn't mess with fate, like it was fate for you to leave, just like it was for you to come back"  
  
Eddie kissed the top of her head and grinned down at her as she looked up at him a little drowsily. He raised his glass and tipped it to Polly's. "To fate then" He said and they both took a long drink from the glasses. "It's late," She said a little lazily looking down at the watch on Eddie's wrist. "I'm drunk, we should get to bed" She began to rise from the chair and stumbled. Just as she was about to fall down the narrow stairs of the porch Eddie caught her and hauled her to her feet. "Cat like reflexes" She murmured. "I can go to a hotel Pol; I don't want you to go through anymore trouble"  
  
"Shut up," Polly said with a lope-sided smile as she pulled open the screen door of the house and walked in. "The couch converts into a bed. I know it's not very luxurious but I have fresh clean sheets and blankets in the silk cabinet and that'll fix you up pretty good if you don't mind." Her accent had gotten thicker when she was tried and Eddie wondered if Polly knew that. Or if she knew the way that the streaming moonlight caressed her loose curls and made them look like pure silver.  
  
She stretched her back lazily and raised her arms far above her head as she yawned and Eddie could see a little bit of sparkle and shine in her belly button. "My room is just over there," She said in between a huge yawn that she politely covered with a dainty hand. "If you need anything just come and get me, if you get hungry in the middle of the night help yourself to what you can find in the kitchen." She crossed over to him across the room and kissed his cheek. "Good night" She said, although her accent had gotten so thickened by sleep that it had sounded an awful lot like 'Goo ni'  
  
She wiped at a smudge of lingering lipstick on his cheek and heard her murmuring something in French to Luke in his bedroom when she went to tell him his hour was up and goodnight. She came back out and busily began to set up the couch bed before she winked at him again and disappeared into her room.  
  
Eddie lay awake staring at the ceiling before sleep slowly began creeping up at him. But until then he had time to contemplate everything under the sun. He thought about Jane and what she was doing in Manhattan while he was in Franklin. He swore to himself that he was going to call her in the morning and just talk to her for hours no matter how high he had run the cell phone bill, he had done it before and he would do it again.  
  
He could hear Luke in the room across from him. The sounds of Luke shuffling around his room, trying to think of ways to pull playing a game once his mom had gone to sleep over on her. Eddie had to smile, he had been 9 years old once and he was sure more opinionated and smart allicky then Luke was. Then again, the only reason why he was like that was because Louise Hart Alden had hated him.  
  
Sleep crept up on his and made his eyelids as heavy as lead. It was a warm comfortable sleep filled with the familiar sounds of crickets singing in the garden and the haze of longed for memories. He didn't know how long he had slept for, but he awoke to something feather soft caressing the inside of his thigh. His eyes opened slowly and saw Polly sitting at the end of the couch.  
  
Her hair was tumbling around her face that was more beautiful then anything he could have imagined. Her lips were slick and painted a blood red that Eddie had never seen before, her long eyelashes were spiked with tube black and she smiled in a way that only a woman knew how to. "Polly..." He said a little uncertainly as she spread her legs and climbed onto his waist as he lay back. "Shh" She said in a sort of purr. She lowered her mouth to his, caught his bottom lip in her teeth, and tugged at it playfully.  
  
Helplessly caught, his hands roamed over her wonderfully packed body and got lost in her long hair. She was clad in sheer silk the color of ripe plums and clung to her body in just the right places. "Polly what-"She silenced his as she placed a finger against his lips. "Don't speak, I have another use for that mouth of yours"  
  
Her skin was soft and powered under his hands and his body unintentionally ached with need to feel her around him. Sensing his need, she shifted her position and let him plunge blindly into her. With every thrust she moaned his name a little louder and he was vaguely worried that Luke would awake to find him mother being fucked on a sofa.  
  
He grabbed at the sheer material and it ripped away as if it was made of cobwebs. He filled his hands with her lovely breasts, her mouth found her tits, and he licked, sucked, and bit as he continued to pump into her hot and wet pussy. He was about to empty himself into her, he could feel it. Just before he emptied himself, she grabbed his balls and squeezed them in her pretty manicured hand that hurt a tiny bit but felt absolutely wonderful. They moaned together and she began to kiss his chest as she moaned his name between numb lips. 


	6. Chapter Six

Eddie awoke with a shock. Sunlight was just filtering through the windows. He looked down at his watch to find that it was not yet seven in the morning, but he remembered that the Southern sun had a nasty habit of getting brighter earlier. The dream had definitely left him shaken. He rose from the couch and ran his fingers through his thick dark hair but carefully avoided a mirror; he knew that he must have looked horrible.  
  
He thought that he heard music coming from the kitchen but it was someone singing, Polly singing. "If we both were born in another place and time this moment might be ending with a kiss, but there you are with yours and here I am with mine so I guess we'll just be leaving it at this..." Listening to Polly just talking was like a song alone, the velvety drawl that was almost like a sensual purr, but when she sang it was a candy sweet soprano. "I will never understand why people play that song at weddings," Eddie said sleepily from the doorway and Polly muffled a squeak of alarm. "What do you mean?" She asked trying to maintain her composure.  
  
"The song you were just singing, 'I Honestly Love You.' It's actually really depressing," Polly laughed softly and continued to hand wash the dishes. "Where's Luke?" Eddie asked as he noted the absence of Polly's young son. "Sunday school, he'll be home around noon with some of his friends to have lunch and toss things around the yard. I have to go down to the hospital in about half an hour if you'd like to come with me or you can hang around here or go into town" Eddie shook his head. "No, I think that I'll come with you, I'd rather be an subtle figure in our pretty little town for a while more"  
  
"Did you sleep alright?" Polly asked and for a minute Eddie considered it a trick question but the he realized she didn't know about the dream he had had about her. "Yeah I guess, but I kept getting headaches during the night, I don't really know why" Polly gave him a measuring look and summed it up quickly. "You're not eating enough meat man. There is some bacon and pork in 'fridge, I'll cook some up for you for breakfast" Amused, Eddie said. "You could tell that by just looking at me?" Polly grinned and pulled open the 'fridge and pulled out the meat.  
  
"Yeah. It's not all that common when you're from the city. I had a couple from Boston down about a week ago and they were having the same problem. They always focused on low carbs and starches, so they ignored the fact that they needed meats in their diet. They came in complaining about headaches at night and nausea in the morning looks like you got lucky":  
  
Not liking the phrase 'got lucky' Eddie nodded grimly and winced as he noted that he has sat on his cell phone. "Your girlfriend called this morning," Polly said absently as she added shredded pork to the bacon. "Oh," Eddie said and flipped through the recently missed calls and sure enough saw Jane's number. "How did you know she was my girlfriend?" Eddie asked and a pretty smile danced across Polly's face. "That was easy; it was the only woman's number in your phone. When I knew you, you would have about 20 more"  
  
Eddie laughed and when Polly turned back to the meat on the stove, he pressed redial and on the fourth ring on the phone in the loft, a breathless Jane answered the phone. "Hello?" Eddie could hear water dripping on the floor, which meant that she had been in the shower when he called. "Hi Jane," He said into the receiver. "Hi baby, I called you this morning but you didn't answer" "Yeah I know, Polly told me"  
  
There was a carefully blank silence on the other end of the line. "Who's Polly?" He cast a look to Polly's back that was flipping the sizzling meat that currently smelled like heaven. "An old friend of mine from Louisiana, I've kind of sacked out on her couch" Once again, there was the long careful silence that Eddie wasn't particularly fond of. "We're just friends Janey" He said in low dangerous tones that indicated Eddie knew that Jane was thinking back to his Playboy days, but there was nothing friendly about the dream, but he decided Jane didn't have to know about it, not yet anyway.  
  
"Anyway Eddie," In brighter-than-usual tones that meant she was still wasn't all that trusting but was trying to cover it up. "I was thinking that maybe when you get back to New York you and I could take off for a week to Paris. What do you think?" Eddie wasn't really thinking at all, he was more concentrated on the pretty enamel ring on Polly's hand that flashed in the early morning sun. "Sorry," Eddie said when he realized Jane was still talking. "What were you saying?"  
  
She sighed a little exasperatedly and repeated what she had said. "Sure," Eddie said, still not really paying attention, but a horrible fear was welling inside him that if he disagreed with anything Jane had said then she would somehow magically find out about the dream he had had. He knew it was ridiculous of course, but he couldn't risk it. "That sounds great Janey," He winked his thanks to Polly as she set the steaming plate of food before him and she blew him a saucy kiss as she poured coffee into a robin's egg blue mug with a tiny chip on the handle.  
  
He hung up the phone with Jane and tucked into the food set before him. "So who's Jane?" Polly asked as she sipped her coffee and bit into a banana as she watched him steadily out of her eyes that were the shade of a warm inviting lake. "She's a friend in Manhattan" She continued to watch him for a long silent moment almost as if she didn't believe him, but offered a sparkling smile and bit into the soft flesh of the fruit. "If there's anything specific you want from the store just let me know and I'll get it in the evening" Eddie shook his head, wolfed down the meat, and grinned contentedly. "Well dahling," Eddie said with an over-acted drawl as he rested his head on his linked fingers. "Are we off to save Franklin one plastic soldier at a time?" 


End file.
